


A Winter Wish

by NightsMistress



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-12-29 00:24:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21145694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightsMistress/pseuds/NightsMistress
Summary: On the winter solstice three years before a fateful encounter at Garreg Mach Monastery, four childhood friends make a wish on a shooting star.





	A Winter Wish

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fortune_Maiden](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fortune_Maiden/gifts).

The solstice was always the coldest night of the Lone Moon, and this year it was a particularly bitter night; cold and clear with the bite of ice on every breath. On the battlements of the castle, Ingrid had an uninterrupted view of the sky above, countless stars brilliant against an inky darkness. No sign of the promised shooting stars yet, and she wished that she had asked Sylvain when it was meant to start before he had darted off to his 'prior engagement'.

"I hope it's not too cold for you, Your Highness," she said, glancing across at Dimitri. "It hasn't been that long since you were ill."

"I assure you, I'm fine," Dimitri said calmly. "It was only a minor cold. The healers tell me that I'm in good health."

"For now," Felix broke in sourly. He turned to Ingrid. "He broke his lance today just doing drills. We spent ages picking out the wreckage from his arms, the walls…"

From the half-healed cut along Felix's cheekbone, at least one of the pieces had been driven across his face, and the sharp angle of his chin forestalled against any further questioning about it. Not that Ingrid needed to ask how Dimitri had broken his lance so spectacularly to begin with; the sheepish hunching of his shoulders said it all. The four of them had seen enough of Dimitri's sudden bursts of Crest-endowed strength to understand that they were completely unpredictable, even to Dimitri himself.

"Oh dear," Ingrid said. She smiled in sympathy at Dimitri. "It will get better as you get older and more experienced."

"So they say," Dimitri sighed. "I only wish that day would come sooner. The castle armory is becoming increasingly barren."

Though it was uncharitable, Ingrid was relieved that the royal family was the bloodline for the Crest of Blaiddyd. No other house could really afford to replace weapons at the rate the Dimitri broke them, let alone other items. There had been a recent spate of Dimitri accidentally taking doors off their hinges.

"You should stop breaking them then," was Felix's suggestion. His control over his crest was far more nuanced than Dimitri's, and he was insufferable for it.

Dimitri opened his mouth to respond, only for someone else to cut through first.

"You heard him, Your Highness. Break fewer lances. Should be a piece of cake."

Ingrid turned around, surprised, and saw Sylvain leaning against the back wall for the battlements, arms folded against the chill. 

"Sylvain?" Dimitri blurted out. "I thought you said you weren't available tonight…?"

Felix snorted.

"He got dumped," he said by way of explanation. 

"That was your prior engagement?" Ingrid said, shaking her head. "I don't even know why I'm surprised anymore."

Sylvain did not look chastised in the slightest. Then again, he never did. He interlinked his fingers behind his head and looked up at the sky. 

"What's important is that I'm here now," he said. "Doesn't look like I missed the show."

"Do you know when it's meant to happen?" Ingrid asked. "His Highness has only just recovered, remember?"

"I assure you, there's no need to concern yourself on my account," Dimitri said mildly.

"Soon," Sylvain assured them. "I don't know exactly when, but it'll be soon."

The four fell silent, studying the sky for the first sign of a falling star. Ingrid found herself tracing the constellations: the crossed lances of Lúin and Ruin, the Aegis Shield to the right of Areadbhar, and Saint Seiros herself the brightest star in the sky. 

"On nights like these," Dimitri said, his voice meditative, "they say the sky is the goddess' jewel box, the stars her earrings and bracelets."

"Ridiculous," Felix snorted. "They're just stars like any other night."

"Perhaps so," Dimitri said. "But it's a nice story, wouldn't you agree?"

"No," Felix said in the way that meant yes.

The four of them fell silent once more.

At first, Ingrid thought that the moving light was just her eyes playing tricks on her. She blinked, and was certain that it was not; it was the first of the falling stars, crossing Saint Seiros and falling like a blessing from the goddess herself. She had only half-believed the fairy tales about wishes being granted on falling stars, but now she believed it entirely.

"There's the first one," she called out, pointing overhead and tracing the star's fall. "Everyone, make a wish for the goddess' ears."

"I still think this is pointless," Felix grumbled. Despite his protests, he folded his hands together in prayer, head bowed over the tops of his fingers. The other two quickly followed suit.

Ingrid spared one last glance at the falling star before bowing her own head and closing her eyes. It seemed like a waste that such beauty would not be seen, even if it meant that her own wish was not heard. Then, she focused her mind on her own wish: Protect Faerghus until Dimitri can become king; protect him until we can.

She waited a moment before opening her eyes once more and folding her hands into her coat to warm them against the winter chill. Felix was already looking around him, a light dusting of snow settling on his dark hair like a mirror of the stars above. It was a startlingly poetic image, ruined only by Felix's now ever-present frown as he looked up past her to the sky overhead and the shooting stars falling down around them. It was a breathtaking sight and Ingrid drank in the light.

She turned to Sylvain, wondering why he had said nothing, but he seemed intent on his own prayer to the goddess. He'd never struck Ingrid as being particularly devout, but his face was solemn, even stern, as he bent over his hands. She had never seen him so intent on anything, his set face a far cry from the lazy smirk that he usually wore. It seemed peculiarly intrusive to be watching him at this moment, and so Ingrid looked away.

Dimitri, in contrast to Sylvain, looked troubled and upset. He too was concentrating fervently, but with a feverish edge that was frightening, eyes screwed closed and body tensed against a blow. It was so incongruous with the courteous, softly-spoken boy that Ingrid had known for years. She reached out a hand to try and shake him from whatever dark thoughts had ensnared him.

"Don't," Sylvain said quietly, catching at her wrist before she could reach Dimitri's shoulder. Ingrid stared, too surprised at how serious he sounded to be affronted by his actions. And then, louder, "Your Highness?"

Dimitri jumped, taking a step backward and looking at them blankly. He gasped and then managed a weak smile.

"Oh, you're already done?" My apologies." His smile became less pallid, more genuine. "I found myself wanting all manner of things, and I couldn't decide what I wanted most. Foolish, I know."

It was obviously a lie, but one that Ingrid did not have the heart to call out. It had been so long since Dimitri had been able to smile at all.

"Really, my choice was easy," Sylvain said, stretching his arms up over his head. "Warden Dubois' youngest daughter going out for dinner with me."

"What?" Ingrid shook her head in incredulous disbelief. "Really, Sylvain? It took me longer to persuade Warden Dubois not to challenge you to a duel than you spent dating her older sisters. At the same time, I might add."

"You did what?" Dimitri said to Sylvain, startled. "Why would you do that?"

"The goddess is in the business of granting miracles," Sylvain said lightly. "Besides, you and her are the only girls left in the castle."

"That's disgusting," Felix said. "It's a good thing the goddess doesn't grant miracles."

Ingrid politely pretended that Felix hadn't made his last comment. Such conversation was dangerous, even for Fraldarius' heir, in the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. The three of them understood why he was so angry, but an outsider might not.

"Thank you, Ingrid, for arranging this," Dimitri said. "I believe I speak for all of us when I say that we are truly grateful."

"It was all Sylvain's idea," Ingrid demurred. "I just made sure you knew about it."

"Nonsense," Felix said, to Ingrid's surprise. "If we'd left it up to him, we'd still be waiting."

"Could we save the talk until we get inside?" Sylvain suggested. "We're going to get frostbite if we stay out here too long."

"True," Ingrid agreed. "Let's go inside everyone." 

Despite her words, Ingrid spared one last look at the stars above. The shooting stars had ceased to fall, leaving only the normal constellations overhead: the lances of the Kingdom, Saint Seiros guiding them, and Ingrid found herself shivering despite her warm clothes.

"Ingrid, you'll catch a cold if you stay out there," Dimitri called, startling her from her reverie.

"That is not how it works," she could hear Felix mutter.

Ingrid smiled wryly. She needed to read fewer knightly romances, if she was attributing bad omens to stars. She turned her back on the stars and joined her friends inside the castle walls.


End file.
